New Berlin, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 152-3
- State statutes adopted
- Wis. Stat. §§ 134.65, 66.0433
- License renewal deadline
- April 15 annually
- License expires
- June 30 each year
- Denied-application refund
- Fee minus $55 processing charge
Summary
New Berlin requires a City license to sell cigarettes, tobacco or electronic vaping devices, issued under Section 152-3 by adopting the state licensure statutes for those products by reference. Penalties track the state forfeiture the adopted statute allows, falling back to the City's general $5-$1,000 penalty if the statute sets none.
A.License. ... The statutory provisions of § 134.65, with § 66.0433, Wis Stats., describing and defining licensure with respect to cigarettes and electronic vaping devices, exclusive of any provisions therein relating to penalties to be imposed and exclusive of any regulations for which the statutory penalty is a term of imprisonment, are hereby adopted and by reference made a part of this section as if fully set forth herein. ... B.Penalties. The penalty for violation of any provision of Subsection A shall be in conformance with the forfeiture permitted to be imposed by the statute adopted, but said fine shall not exceed the maximum fine permitted under such statute. If the statute adopted does not set forth a forfeiture, then the penalty provisions of Chapter 1, General Provisions, Section 1-18 of the Code of the City of New Berlin shall apply.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 3 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
0433, by reference as City law, covering everything those statutes describe or define about licensing cigarette and electronic vaping device sales, except their imprisonment penalties. Any act the adopted statutes require or prohibit becomes required or prohibited under City ordinance, and future amendments to those statutes automatically flow into the City rule, keeping New Berlin's licensing uniform with the rest of Wisconsin. The license itself runs through Chapter 152's general licensing framework: Section 152-1 requires anyone engaging in a licensed business to apply to the City Clerk on a City form, pay the administrative fee set by the Council, and renew by April 15 each year, with licenses expiring June 30.
A denied application gets a refund of the fee less a $55 processing charge. The Clerk may issue cigarette licenses directly rather than routing them through Common Council approval, one of only two license types the Clerk is authorized to grant outright, the other being operator (bartender) licenses. Section 152-1 J also makes compliance with every City ordinance a condition of holding the license, so an unrelated code violation on the licensed premises can be grounds for revocation.
Violations & Fines
Section 152-3 B ties the penalty for violating the adopted cigarette and vaping licensure statutes to whatever forfeiture those statutes allow, capped at the statutory maximum. If the adopted statute doesn't set a forfeiture, Section 1-18's general penalty applies instead: $5 to $1,000 for a first offense, $10 to $1,000 for a second offense within a year, plus court costs, with jail time possible if the forfeiture goes unpaid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a City license to sell vapes in New Berlin?
Who issues cigarette and vaping licenses in New Berlin?
What happens if a licensed store violates an unrelated City ordinance?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in New Berlin
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Tobacco Retail License in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Waukesha County handle tobacco retail license.